WORK IT, SISTER

I woke up this morning, put on a tea kettle and jumped back into bed with the computer that’s graciously on loan from these fine people. I checked my email, and then bopped over to my Google Reader feed… and found this waiting for me, just begging to be opened.

You don’t see many niqabs coupled with robin’s-egg blue eyeshadow these days, and it’s a shame.  As M.I.A. demonstrates, it’s a look that works.

As for the question that MMW poses – whether this is a costume or a comment – it should be clear to even minimally-trained eyes that this was no accident.  M.I.A. didn’t just stumble upon a matching abaya (that’s the dress portion) and niqab (that’s the face veil) in a vintage store one afternoon.  The gloves, the layered hijab-niqab combo (the fold of fabric on her head comes down to obscure the eyes completely) and full-length, full-coverage abaya were thoughtfully tailored.  I think that she looks great, and even a bit demure compared to what I’ve seen here.

Yes, I said demure.

Here in southern Morocco, where the lhaf or lizar reigns supreme, a 150-kilo (that’s more than 300 lbs!) woman wrapped in a tie-dyed bedsheet doesn’t turn heads.  So while M.I.A. nabbed her fifteen minutes of fame last night, she’d be just another face in the crowd down here.